Blu Friday: James Bond

(Blu Monday Friday is our roundup of what's new in Blu-ray...)

Chances are you've already run across today's Gold Box deal, which has James Bond sets on both Blu-ray and standard-definition DVD.  I've been spinning my way through the six Blu-ray discs, and they're exceptional-looking and -sounding discs (unlike some BDs these days, they use DTS HD 5.1 master lossless audio).  There are also a bunch of bonus features, including commentary by the director (and sometimes others) on each film, and Live and Let Die, For Your Eyes Only, and Die Another Day have commentary by Roger Moore or Pierce Brosnan.  (A preliminary comparison of DAD with the original two-disc DVD revealed a lot of duplicated features, though they were organized differently so it was hard to check everything.)  One major note and one minor quibble:  A lot of Bond fans are reporting problems playing their Blu-ray discs.  I had no problems with my PS3, but other players may need a firmware update; check for details in High-Def Headquarters, especially if you have a Samsung BD-P1500 or LG BH200 Blu-ray player.  The minor quibble is that my copies (individuals, not in packs) came with movie-cash coupons to see the new Bond movie, Quantum of Solace--yay!--but the coupons were glued to the slipcovers, and left both ink and glue residue when I peeled them off.  (I've heard that denatured alchohol will remove it--I'll have to try that.) --David